1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for spray coating a material handling surface, such as a truck bed, an excavator bucket, a bulldozer blade, a packer wheel, and a loader bucket.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional approaches to lining truck and trailer units for contamination and/or wet material handling include lining the contact surfaces of these units with polymer plastic liners and/or with beds of straw. There are a number of drawbacks with this approach, including high cost and messiness. Also, such approaches require lengthy times for application, thereby increasing “downtime” of equipment. For example, it can take 20 minutes or more to line a dump truck box with a bed of straw or a plastic sheet liner.
Since a dump truck box tends to be covered with a fresh liner each time it hauls a load, such plastic liners and straw beds also have the drawback of adding substantially to our landfills. Both materials have a negative impact on the environment, with plastic liners requiring a lengthy period to break down, and with straw causing weed growth in landfills.
Further, some jurisdictions, like the Alberta government, have initiatives to reduce the use of plastics and straw in lining waste disposal applications and in some cases may outright ban the use of these types of products in certain applications.